[Hellion]

She lead them toward Moon Tree with a sense of uncertainty. In all her moons of life Firesky had only been to their ancestor's sacred tree a few times and never knew how she felt about it. The path toward Moon Tree was long and made worse by the snow. Her mate's presence was a comfort and his kind eyes encouraged her.

Every so often her attention turned back to glance at Redstar and Rookfrost. Her soon to be former leader had a special place in her heart, it took a lot of courage to do what she did. Rookfrost on the other paw had her spite, there was something wrong about him and she would have the power soon enough to question his action.

Focusing again on the path her paw slipped but her claws quickly dug into the ground. Her nose burned with the scent of StoneClan. Their allowed path was providing the patch-work she-cat to study her enemy. Unlike Redstar, Firesky would seek out to gain more territory for their Clan. The sunstones would be an asset to her Clan for many moons. Extending their border would be her first priority once Leafbare had released it's grip on the valley.

A few more minutes past until her claws scarped on stone that signaled that they were indeed close. Russetfall nudged his mate before falling back, he wasn't permitted to join his mate as she'd descend into the cavern.

"Russetfall will keep watch over us while we partake in this ceremony," She told both Rookfrost and Redstar before taking the leading and finding her foot to head down. She gave a final look to her mate, she would return but she wouldn't be the same. Another rush of emotion threatened to overcome her. She'd likely watch him die before her, she'd have nine lives to lose while he still had only one. Pulling herself away from that Firesky focused back on her duty to her Clan, her other reason for living.

---

@littleflower Fawn
_{In the event Butterfly doesn't post by 1/23/2016 Fawn can go ahead and we can skip her entire bit of Redstar losing her lives and being renamed Redwind.}

[Fawn]

⇒Medicine Cat of LightningClan⇐

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The overzealous snowfall had, at long last, finally stopped. It was likely a small break in the continuous storm, but it had provided LightningClan with a small window of opportunity to see their process of succession completed. It was unusual only in the fact that the former leader, Redstar, had not died but had chosen to step down instead. That meant it was both the deputy and the leader who accompanied the black tom to the Moon Tree. With twice the usual amount of authority surrounding him on all sides, Rookfrost forced himself to play his part better than he had before.

"Brace yourselves," Rookfrost spoke to both she-cats. "There is a great propensity that these ceremonies will be painful." If pressed to entertain a few hypothetical concepts, (such as this absurdity over multiple lives) it made sense to the onyx healer that any kind of deep internal removal of something, in this case a 'life', would be incredibly painful. Of course, the same could be true for the acquirement of lives as well.

He would watch both she-cats closely, mentally make note of their differing degrees of pain to see how their bodies would cope with 'StarClan's gifts'. It was hard to take these things seriously, even for a scientist who had no sense of humor, he was left with nothing more than apathy when faced with the supernatural. The closest he had ever come to believing in unseen powers and dark forces beyond any normal creature's control, had been out on the moorland with a white-furred devil, who had eyes as deep as arterial blood and a penchant for murder that outshone even the most ruthless of predators.

Rookfrost could say with absolute certainty that StarClan had not been with him, that night. That had been something else.

He did not deign to give it further contemplation, however, as the medicine cat followed Firesky into the freezing depths of the Moon Tree's cavern. No frozen, subterranean arbor would ever persuade him to question the facts the way that the night on the moorland had. Rookfrost very nearly sniffed in disdain, watching the way the moonlight struck the icy, crystallized boughs in an almost ethereal way.

Rookfrost stayed quiet. Blaming the sacred space on his taciturn behavior, taking full advantage of the opportunity to keep his thoughts to himself. With a brusque nod to both, he waited for the she-cats to lie down beneath the tree's roots.

He would remain standing, thank you very much.

He didn't care to lie under a magic tree to speak to his magical life-giving ancestors, so that they might whisper metaphors into his ears until his head spun.

No thank you. That was for fools. And Rookfrost, his eyes narrowing in the chilly lunar light, was no fool.

---

No wealth no ruin no silver no gold. Nothing satisfies me but your soul.

Word Count: 462 Words
Tags: Hellion , @littleflower

[Hellion]

Firesky's eyes drifted to Rookfrost's cold gaze for a moment. She studied the black medicine cat for a moment before finding herself a place to rest. She sat there and waited for a moment to see Redstar's fall to sleep within the roots. She waited for what she assumed was a decent amount of time before curling up to fall into a slumber.

Her breathing slowed until she was truly asleep. Unlike the two cats that shared the space with her, Firesky had very little experience with StarClan. She knew nothing other than what she learn from stories as a young kit, everything so new. It took only a moment until Firesky felt like waking and opened her eyes. She didn't find the roots of moontree but instead the wide open plains of LightingClan territory, however they weren't like she remembered. The area was clouded in a mist which looked as if it held stars. She wouldn't lie and say she felt confident, in fact the small leader-to-be felt nervous and knew that his experience would be unique to her.

Unsure yet of what to do Firesky walked forward into the mist. She expect some distant ancestor to step forward from the mist but instead a scent caught her attention. A old one she was sure she'd never smell again. Turning sharply the calico she-cat looked around for the source until her attention caught sight of her. Coming from her right was the small silver tabby she knew as her mother, Firesky paused mid-stride.

"Mother," Was all she was able to say. Words and emotions caught up in Firesky's throat. There were a lot of things that she had said to the wispy she-cat that couldn't be taken back. Had her mother remembered those cruel words? Did Willowtail die thinking her daughter hated her? Had Willowtail grown to hate her daughter for not being there when she took her last breath? Feeling like a young kit all over again Firesky looked away from her mother out of an odd sense of respect.

"Daughter, you have made your Clan proud," She told her. Firesky tried not to take it personally. She'd rather learn that her own mother was proud not the entire Clan, but she would take what she could get.

"You are here because you are a strong and dedicated warrior and I am here to give you a life, but first the others must gather." She paused before giving a signal with her tail. From the mist emerged another eight cats, she knew them all. She knew this ceremony would be a mix emotion.

"You will always be my daughter and my likely the most accomplished. I believe that you will be a leader that the Clans will talk about for many moons, maybe even for forever."That rare moment of praise was enough to force Firesky's eyes to widen.

"Thank you Mother," She answered searching her mother's pale starlight eyes for any sense of where she was going, Willowtail was not known for praise.

"I am going to give you the life of Forgiveness." Willowtail gave a small smile to her daughter.

"We all make mistakes in life, as a leader you have to know that even if a mistake is made, forgiveness is also needed. I am sorry Firesky for all that I have done to you and I also forgive you for all that you did to me." She meowed toward her daughter her starlight eyes expressing her real honesty. Firesky remained silent but nodded. Willowtail took this moment to close the gap between her daughter and placed her chin on her forehead. The moment contact was made Firesky's felt a rush of too many emotions. It was as if all those moments she held anger toward her mother were washed with a cleansing rain, it was peaceful. Firesky didn't falter with the addition of the new life but surely felt different. Willowtail stepped away from her and nodded in pride. Firesky returned the gesture. What had happened between them in the past wasn't ever going to forgotten but it was going to be forgiven.

Her eyes caught her mother's for one last second before the queen returned to the gathering of cats. She past a flame colored tom and gave him a kind nuzzle. There was a affection in the gesture but nothing more. He took it as a signal that it was his turn and walked forward. Firesky let her eyes slowly glide upward to meet his gaze. Like her own eyes they shone back at her with an amber hue, his sparkling with starlight.

"Father," She greeted. He wasn't a tom of much praise and very much like her mother. In reality he hadn't done much in terms of raising the current leader-to-be. Flamefur had kept a background most of her upbringing but unknown to the calico she-cat he cheered louder than anyone when she was given her warrior name.

Firesky didn't know what to expect from the tom she hardly knew. What life could be possibly give her? It likely would be something like strength or quickness in battle. Flamefur was known within the Clan for being a battle-worn warrior, who knew how to win. That trait seemed to also be in his daughter.

"Firesky, despite my lack of involvement in your life I am proud of you," He told her a small smile escaping him. Firesky studied her father's face a mixture of happiness and confusion.

"There wasn't much love between your mother and I. Her heart had always belonged to other tom, but that doesn't mean I wasn't proud of you. You will be a strong leader and one that LightingClan needs," He finished and watched the reaction in his daughter's face as he tried to offer him back another small smile. To her it was strange to hear. Why hadn't he gotten to know her once she was out of the nursery, there were plenty of time for that. Those were questions she'd likely never get the answer to, at least not in the current moment.

"Firesky, I am going to give you the life of duty. You are responsible for all the cats within your Clan. Ensure what the choices you make will benefit the majority of them. Lead them well Firesky," He finished. Firesky hide her emotions well in front of him, a trait from her mother. Without warning Flamefur lowered his head to press his nose to her forehead. The shock forced her legs to shake as she felt the second life join her first. Once the connection was finished he stepped back gave her a final smile before turning and rejoining the others.

She exhaled loudly, once she realized just how tightly she held her breath. It was hard to see her parents and feel those emotions climb back up. She knew that the past wasn't easily forgotten but she didn't expect to be reminded in this way.

Attempting to expel what she still hung to Firesky watched the gathered group of cats for signs fo her next life. From within the crowd a white pelt emerged. Firesky met the pale green gaze of Dovesong with a sad smile. Firesky was there when Dovesong had her final breath, it was sad to watch a Clanmate die from sickness. So much death had befallen her Clan in recent moons but Firesky was confident that LightingClan would be okay.

Dovesong stood across from her with a gentle look in her eye an warm smile. Firesky felt a companionship with the white queen. It was a sad day when she left.

"You have achieved a lot Firesky," Dovesong praised. The calico she-cat nodded in thanks flicking her short tail.

"I have watched over my kits for some time and admired how you've taken care of the Clan. Your leadership will be useful in the coming newleaf," Her pale green eyes closed for a moment, likely remembering a memory of her family.

"I give you the life of Maternal love. Everyone was a kit once, treat them as so. No one is born evil." She didn't hesitate and placed her nose to Firesky's forehead, the energy the passed between them had Firesky gasping. Dovesong gave a final nod before returning to the group. Firesky felt uneasy with her words. She knew some cats who were evil and believed they were born that way, certainly Rookfrost was one of those cats.